Broadway’s Baayork Lee: What she did for love

The 1975 musical “A Chorus Line” had no stars. Instead, it told the stories of the dancers who run from show to show, whose names the audience will probably never know. It became a Tony Award-winning hit.

Asked why, actress-dancer-choreographer Baayork Lee responded, “I think, first of all, we were the first reality show. We played ourselves.”

Lee starred as Connie Wong, one of those dancers who do what they do for a simple reason. “The theme song that Marvin Hamlisch wrote for us, which is ‘What I Did For Love,’ is really what matters. love what we do. It’s passion, dedication and discipline.”

The musical was the brainchild of director Michael Bennett, known for incorporating contemporary dance moves into his choreography, such as in 1968’s “Promises, Promises”:

Baayork Lee and the cast of “Promises, Promises” perform “Turkey Lurkey Time” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (1970):

“It’s an extraordinary dance,” said Rocca. “My biggest question is, how did you manage to keep your head on your neck?”

“We went to the chiropractor once a week,” Lee laughed.

“Promises, Promises” was Lee’s third gig as “Michael Bennett’s dancer.” But her path to Broadway began much earlier, when she was five years old and living in New York’s Chinatown. Back then, Lee’s world revolved around a two-block stretch from her Catholic school to the Wo Hop restaurant her father founded in the 1930s. Then, in 1951, when “The King and I,” From Rodgers and Hammerstein, starring Yul Brynner, was casting the roles of royal children, Baayork and his brother ventured uptown to audition.

“There were thousands of kids there — well, it felt like thousands of kids there,” she recalled. “We all went up on stage. And I saw chandeliers and velvet seats. And I was mesmerized.”

Rocca asked, “Did you show any evidence before the age of five that you would like to be an artist?”

“No.”

“You started right away, this acting thing?”

“Oh, of course. Ham and ham!” Lee laughed.

Baayork Lee found his calling. But when she was eight, she was let go from “The King and I” because, she said, “I outgrew my fantasy.

For a time, she attended the prestigious School of American Ballet and appeared in George Balanchine’s original film “The Nutcracker.”

But he soon returned to Broadway, starring with Sammy Davis Jr. in “Golden Boy” and Tommy Tune in “Seesaw.” When “A Chorus Line” debuted, Lee was still just 29 years old, but it would be his last show as a performer. “On opening night, Michael Bennett said to me, ‘You’re going to take this all over the world.’ And I just looked at him and laughed, you know? Really? He handed me the keys on opening night.”

Lee was embarking on a new career path: Since 1975, she had helped cast and direct productions of “A Chorus Line” around the world.

The role of educator came naturally to her. In 2009, Lee co-founded the National Asian Artists Project. The goal: expose Asian Americans to the joys of musical theater.

And this 78-year-old isn’t just lending her name to the cause; “Sunday Morning” saw its performers rehearsing the “Turkey Lurkey” dance and later showing them off before a crowd of tourists at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

And in 2017, Lee won the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for her philanthropic work. “I really appreciate it because it’s about helping my community — not with my 12 Broadway shows, not with all the things I’ve done,” she said. “I’m really proud of it.”

Today, Baayork Lee, a child of the stage, has raised more Broadway babies than he can count.

Rocca asked, “Do you think this represents your life’s work?”

“Absolutely,” she replied.

And she’s not finished yet.

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Story produced by Kay Lim. Editor: Lauren Barnello.

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